You know generally that reviews are important for your business, and you may even know that they are becoming more imperative every day. But with all the day-to-day business priorities you manage, how important are they, really for you?
Answer: A lot.

A great infographic just came out on this topic with some great statistics to share here. Depending on how your reviews currently stack up, some of these numbers are good and some are bad, but all are noteworthy:

• 75% of reviews posted on review websites are positive.
• 95% of unhappy customers will return to your business if an issue is resolved quickly and efficiently.
• 71% agree that consumer reviews make them more comfortable that they are buying the right product/service
• 70% of people consult reviews/ratings before purchasing.
• People are 63% more likely to purchase a product from a site if it has product ratings and reviews.
• Customer reviews create a 74% increase in product conversion

Breaking It Down

There are some overwhelmingly loud messages here.

• First, even if you get a bad review, the way you handle that negative review can mean everything. Work quickly to make those unhappy reviewers happy again. How? Business owners who are already registered on sites like Yelp and Google reviews can contact reviewers directly; this capability is a powerful tool not only to help soften negative feedback, but to prove you care about getting concerns resolved.
• Second, no matter what your product or service, the stats overwhelming say that what your customers think impacts new leads, so encourage reviews. Whether it’s on an online review site, your own site reviews, a real customer experience story you write after interviewing them and post to your site—all have the ability to create a positive impact on your business.

Not a week goes by that a client doesn’t ask us what else they can be doing to ensure their online success, and one part of our answer is always the same: Focus on getting more reviews about your business online. The stats very clearly show why.

We’ve talked before about the idea of a Twitter superfan or superuser, but this often-neglected group of users can help your business on multiple levels beyond just the one social media outlet.

What They Are

These are people who love what you do and who you are; they live and breathe your product and can’t get enough of it. No doubt you already have one or two of these people in your customer base, and they are one of your strongest assets—you need more of them.

Seth Godin calls these people “sneezers,” and we mentioned them a while back in a previous blog post on social media marketing. These are usually early adopters of your product of your service, and once you have won them over they will tell everyone about you. These are some of your most cost-effective and best marketers because they love what you do and cost you nothing other than making sure they stay happy.

So how do we get more sneezers? How do we encourage more people to want to talk about your business? Answer: Give them the farm.

How to Leverage That Enthusiasm

These super users are going to ask a lot of questions about your product. They are going to investigate and learn. When their investigation turns up positive outcomes, they are going to purchase your product and no doubt tell you how happy they are. When this happens, make it worth their while to tell people. Give them a discount if they bring a friend, tell them openly about how you want to find more people like them and would appreciate any reviews they could contribute or referrals they can make to bring in friends who might like your service. Deputize them as unofficial spokespeople for your product, and in a positive and fun way get them to do your marketing work for you.

Two examples:

Incentive-Based

Customer: “I have to tell you, I absolutely LOVE your product. At first I wasn’t sure but thought I’d give it a try and WOW!”

You: “Thank you so much. I am really glad you like it. Listen, we are trying to get the word out about our product and we really think people like you can help. If you know other people who might also like this and bring them in, we’ll give you and your friend 20% off your next purchase.”

Customer: “Wow that’s a great deal. I will think about who I can encourage to come in.”

Status-Based

Customer: “I have to tell you, I absolutely LOVE your product. At first I wasn’t sure, but thought I’d give it a try and WOW!”

You: “Thank you so much. I am really glad you like it. Listen, would you like to be our unofficial poster child for this product? We love using real story scenarios on how our product works, and I’d like to include you in how we market it.”
Customer: “Sounds interesting. What would I have to do?”

You: “Simple, just use our product and tell people how much you love it. We’d also like to do a customer story about you on our web site. We will interview you and let you review and approve the content before we post it live…so, what do you think?”

Customer: “Sounds great. Using and talking about your product is easy for me because I love it. I’d be more than happy to help.”

Cautionary Note

Keep in mind that if a sneezer isn’t treated well, their engagement could also backfire and “sneeze” out a negative message about you, pushing your reputation in the opposite direction from where you want it. Make sure you are constantly showing appreciation for what they are doing for you, because if you take them for granted, they won’t be your biggest fan forever.

There was a time before the internet when the yellow pages were very important to be found in because they were the only way to find local businesses without actually physically visiting the business. As the internet became more popular, they started to become less useful; and now, it’s easier and faster to go to Google to find out about a business as well as reviews and more.

So are you still spending money on yellow page advertising? If so, you should stop now. There are better things to use your marketing budget on.

Your phone book company will insist your ad is still worthwhile, but there are very few cases where this is true. If you market to the elderly, then yellow page advertising may still be a logical idea. People in this demographic have used the yellow pages their whole lives, they feel it’s second nature to grab the phone book instead of sitting down at the computer, and they probably aren’t avid smartphone users.

For the rest of us, it’s a money waster, plain and simple, and these ads are expensive! When any kind of phone book comes to my house, it goes immediately into the recycling. No one in my household has any interest or need for it and, frankly, the local information we get online is more accurate and complete.

Profit tracking is another major problem with these ads. Think of the amount a phone book ad costs and what you could do with that money on things you know have proven to work in your marketing campaign. For some businesses, especially with multiple locations, the cost of a phone ad listing adds up to a huge sum of money,v” and the returns are questionable and difficult to track. Those dollars could be used on more measurable marketing activities like email marketing.

Not only is it a waste of money but a waste of paper. While I am no tree-hugger, think of how many pounds of phone book paper go into landfills every year: about 165,000 pounds of paper; some studies estimate that’s coming from parts of about 5 million trees. Wow! On top of all this, a 2011 Harris poll showed that most phone book recipients don’t use it, don’t recycle it, and/or don’t want it delivered in the first place. The bulk of physical material your ad is paying for goes directly into the garbage, and that should be a resounding reason why you shouldn’t be wasting money here.

If after all this you still feel compelled to spend money on the yellow page listing for your business, at least do yourself a favor and get a trackable phone number to use there so you can measure leads that your ad brings in. If you can’t measure it, it’s the same as throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks.

By the way, are you tired of getting the yellow pages delivered, too? Head to www.yellowpagesoptout.com and discontinue your subscriptions.

Sure, some businesses (and even more celebrities) are seeing a nice return on the time they invest tweeting. But why are you wasting time on it? Out of the claimed 500 million Twitter accounts, about 200 million are considered active and of that, the majority are people tweeting a variety of nonsense to get reaction from their friends and groupies.

But shouldn’t I build a following on Twitter? I need those people to see my business!

People aren’t using Twitter to learn about new businesses and just like Facebook, people are starting to feel inundated with all the posts, tweets, and social media mumbo jumbo as anyone and everyone is trying to be heard.  Do you really care what your buddy ate for dinner or what your aunt’s cat did today? I don’t.

Is Twitter the Best Place for Superfans?

If someone is following your business on Twitter, they are either there because they are a “superfan” (meaning they live and breathe what you do) or they are there to complain.  These superfans don’t come from your presence on Twitter, they come from how you run your business. If you are doing it well, you will always have some of these people and make no mistake, they are one of your best assets. Your time is better spent nurturing their fandom through direct outreach than tweeting all over the place and seeing what sticks.

Twitter’s Usefulness

1)      You are a very large corporation and you need better ways to handle customer service. Twitter is great for this because your customer can go to your Twitter page and get updates, complain, and get help practically in real time. Good stuff for companies like airlines and companies that provide real time services like utilities and web hosting, as long as they are monitoring it hourly.

2)      You are a large retail organization and you use Twitter for branding. It’s a good place to talk about product releases and news. This works “OK” but again you are only tweeting out to your superfans. More people are likely to view a “New Products” section on your website than through Twitter, and you’re likely to have more success with email marketing to spread news and updates.

3)      You are a celebrity/rock star in your industry. If you already have a large following and people are clamoring for you, then Twitter is your place. But before you say, “I’m definitely one of those people,” keep in mind that realistically there are only one or two of these in every industry. If you are a computer company and aren’t Bill Gates or in the medical industry and aren’t Dr. Oz, don’t waste your time.

If you don’t fit into one of the three above, you don’t need to be on Twitter. In my experience, really #1 is the only truly useful aspect of Twitter working well for a business. Save your marketing budget and scale back your social media budget for things that really work.

I’ve used this term on and off for a few years now and I swear someday I will write a book about it. I the meantime, Me Too Marketing is something I see happening in just about every business segment across the map.

me too mar-ket-ing
noun
Advertising and promotional decisions made by a business because they feel compelled to do exactly what their competitors are doing.
Examples:
1) “That coffee shop is doing really well. I bet we could open up one across the street and do better.”
2) “Our competitor is on Pinterest. We should be there too.”
3) “I hear a lot of businesses advertising on the radio. It must be working for them and we should be doing it.”

Here’s a real life example of this in my neighborhood. I live in a popular wine region in California and my family was one of the first 20 wineries here almost 30 years ago. Today there are over 180 and the area is attempting to become as commercialized as the Napa wine region. The problem? Very few are profitable and most are hanging on by a thread.

So what happened? Two things that I saw firsthand. One, grape growers that would sell grapes to wineries decided they were “getting screwed” by the winemakers because they were selling their grapes at a good price and the winemaker was turning around and charging a small fortune for the wine they produced. Growers got greedy and decided to start their own wineries. “If they can do it, so can I.”

The problem is they didn’t factor in the fact that as a grower, you get paid by the pound so the more you produce the more money you make. As a winemaker you know that the less you grow on the grapevine, the better quality the grapes and wine will be. Now you have the market flooded with subpar wine because growers are doing it the way they always did and producing as much tonnage as they can on the vines, which results in poor quality grapes and mediocre wine.

Second, you have the “sophisticated” wine lover roll through town who says, “Wow honey, I’d love to move here and start a winery. It’s so romantic!” So they sell their house in the suburbs and move to the country, investing everything they have in something they know nothing about, and it all turns out to be 10 times more costly than they imagined and it turns out it’s not as romantic as they thought and a lot of work.

Back to Reality…

No matter what business you are in, no matter what your selling, do yourself a favor and NEVER leap before you look. Whether it is something your competitor is doing, some new marketing idea you heard about, whatever, do your homework first. Just because your neighbor is doing it doesn’t mean it’s working. They could be completely lost in what they are marketing and are grasping at straws to try to find something that will help them sell their product.  Stick to the basics. Ask lots of questions. Evaluate costs vs. real return on investment (ROI) from actual people who have used this new medium and compare it to your business.

If you do decide to forge ahead on this new expenditure, start small. If it works, invest a little more, if it doesn’t, kill it and go back to what you know works.  Remember, no matter what a salesperson says or promises you have to take it all in stride and get the facts from actual people who have used their product and can speak intelligently about their investment.  Also keep in mind that your most valuable asset for gaining new customers isn’t anything someone can sell you to get your name out there, it’s your current customers. Keep them happy and encourage them to tell others and that is where your real business comes from.

We’ve all heard stories about a few grumpy (or in some cases, irate) customers making it their personal mission to tarnish a business’s reputation online. To defend their name, many businesses go into full “circle the wagons” mode, pursuing legal action or hiring some “specialist” in reputation management to go on the offensive. But the bottom line is that when something negative is said about your company online, you are more than likely stuck with it.

So what do you do?

The Two-Step Approach

First, it’s important to keep in mind that a negative review isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You’re never going to please everyone all the time. Research has shown that when a company has all 5 star reviews, people get suspicious. Having a few negative reviews just means that your business operates in reality and has a few chinks in its armor, like all businesses do.

In our experience, the best long-term strategy for earning a positive online reputation is to (1) make sure that customers who have a good experience with you share that experience where it counts on the web, and (2) actively engage with upset customers and try to make things right. We call these two parts “Getting More of the Good” and “Patching up the Bad.”

Getting More of the Good

1)      No matter what your business, there is always a moment when working with your customers and they are visibly or vocally happy with your service or product. That is your moment of opportunity to ask for a review.
Customer: “Thank you so much, I love what you have done for me!”
You: “I am so happy you are pleased with our service. You know what you could do for me? (hands customer a card with review link) Go out to this link and write a review of your experience in working with us. I’d be so appreciative of it if you did.”

2)      After a customer completes a transaction, send them an email and ask them to write a quick review for you. Send them the link to the review site and make it as easy as possible for them. If it takes work, they more than likely aren’t going to do it.

3)      Focus on Google. While there are many review sites out there, spend about 2/3rds of your time cultivating positive reviews on your Google Place page. Spend the remaining 1/3rd on sites like Yelp, Yahoo, and industry-related review sites. Why? Because Google is always going to put their reviews first. They aren’t even pulling review information from Yelp anymore, so focus where you will get the biggest bang for your buck.

Patching up the Bad

It’s only natural to have some less than fantastic reviews. Here are some ways you can handle them.

1)      First, take a deep breath. Try to get in touch with the customer privately. If you can, contact them via email or messaging through the review site see if you can rectify their concerns. If you are able to make them happy, ask them to modify their negative review.

2)      If the customer still isn’t happy or you can’t contact them privately, consider a public response on the review site. The way you are seen handling the negativity also speaks loudly to your potential customers. Apologize publicly for their unhappiness and offer to fix it. Own their unhappiness and publicly show your concern. Even if they don’t take you up on it, you are seen as a caring business owner.

3)      Consider legal action as the last resort. If what they are saying is provably false and damaging your business, you may have a claim. More than likely, pursuing legal action is going to be more money and trouble than it is worth. Consider this option very carefully. Remember that there is a “court of public opinion” that is much cheaper than actual court and attorneys. How you publicly handle an attack on your business can obviate or greatly reduce the need to pursue a legal claim.

Overall, we believe the freedom of expression (and yes, gripes) that the web allows is a good thing for customers and businesses. It forces you as a business to be on your toes, offer the best service you can, and work hard to make sure your customers are happy. Which is really what you should be doing anyway.

If you have at least one social media account, you’ve no doubt shared something on it. After all, if not, why have the account at all? The big question is do people care what you share?  A study by Intel Corporation found that 90% of American adults think people share too much and half of them find it to be overwhelming.  I have to admit; I have either unfriended people or changed my settings on my Facebook page to no longer show people’s posts because I simply have no interest in what they are saying.

So why do we share?

• Attention and Recognition – We want to be noticed. I admit I do this too.  Last week we got published (see I just did it again) on an industry Social Media site and I wanted my followers (clients and colleagues) to know about it so I shared on my Facebook and LinkedIn page.  People share to get attention for themselves, their work, and their expertise.
• Benefits and Perks – A new common thing on Facebook is for companies to offer up some prize if you share about them on Facebook.  This is a gimmick but its helping businesses to expand their fan base that they can then go out and market to.  While it’s working, its more often being ignored as people are overwhelmed with this type of crap on their Facebook wall. The advice to businesses is simple: don’t treat your customers like monkeys. Provide them with content they will want to share.
• Keep It Simple – Remember, people are overwhelmed. Keep your posts as simple as you can. No long stories or anything that takes real focus. Less is more and photos always have a better response than just text.
• Create a Sense of Urgency – If you have a special offer to give your “Facebook Only” customers, show some urgency with something like “The first 25 people to comment on this post with their favorite thing about our service get 25% off their next visit.” Those that act are true fans. Those that don’t will wish they were paying more attention to you and be more eager the next time around. If any fans who missed the special follow up with you, don’t give them the same offer – give them something even better. After all, they took the time to go the extra mile; make them feel equally as important by doing the same for them. Now THAT is personal service!
• Show Your Successes – If you offer a service such as home remodeling, auto body repair, or cosmetic surgery, show photos of the before work and the after work. People love photos and showing the successful transformation will always be a hit.

The next time you decide to share something, think about your followers. Ask yourself this question: “Do they care what I am about to share?” I’ll answer this for you, 9 out of 10 times (see stats in first paragraph) they don’t, so don’t do it. If you have something truly of value that will benefit your followers and you can show why, share away.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) has seen very few changes to its Privacy Rule since its original enactment back in 2003, despite the massive technological advancements we’ve seen since then. Protected Health Information (PHI) such as electronic health records and patient payment information is now increasingly stored in electronic form, making it more susceptible to hacking and online data breaches.

To address this gap, a new omnibus rule was released in January 2013. Rule changes go into effect on March 26, 2013, and compliance is required by September 23, 2013. This rule update is going to have considerable impact on clients who must comply with HIPAA (“covered entities”). Here are the highlights of what’s changing:

1. Liability Expansion

One of the biggest changes of the HIPAA Omnibus Rule expands liability to include “business associates” of covered entities as well as the covered entities (doctors, clinics, hospitals, etc.) themselves. While doctors still remain liable for HIPAA breaches if they occur, entities such as subcontractors, web vendors and marketing agencies must also protect against data breaches. With this change in definition, these business associates of medical professionals must now follow HIPAA regulations.

2. Burden of Proof Shift

The burden of proof will also see a shift; previously, individuals were required to be notified of a potential security breach only if that breach posed “a significant risk of financial, reputational, or other harm to the individual,” as judged by the covered entity. After September 23, the “harm threshold” assumes that any breach at all poses a risk, and the burden of proof shifts to the covered entity to prove otherwise. A breach is now defined as any use of information that isn’t specifically permitted under the HIPAA Privacy Rule.

3. Ensuring Compliance

Going forward, covered entities will need to enter into written contracts with their business associates to outline acceptable uses of PHI and how to report data breaches. Similarly, business associates will need to obtain written contracts with their subcontractors on these same points to address their own liability under the new rule. Business associates, including third-party billers, web vendors, and other companies that service covered entities, should be prepared to provide an audit log detailing their HIPAA compliance if needed.

4. Medical Marketing Changes

While the definitions of what constitutes marketing have not been changed by the updated rule, the exceptions to these definitions have been rewritten. Restrictions have been tightened as to what constitutes acceptable use of PHI. Communications about products or services are still allowable, but authorization must be obtained prior to any use or disclosure of PHI that results in financial remuneration, including fundraising efforts.

For marketing teams, this means reevaluating the use of patient testimonials and photo gallery information that doctors may have posted in brochures or websites; proper patient consent forms must be received and kept on file prior to any publication of this information.

5. Locking Down PHI

For covered entities and business associates, any access to systems containing PHI must be monitored more closely than ever. This includes online platforms you may not be watching closely right now, including social media channels and any front-end or back-end portions of a practice’s website where patient information (such as photos or testimonials) may be stored. Covered entities need to develop best practices regarding which staff members and business associates have access to PHI, what amount of access they have, and steps that need to be taken to limit misuse of such information. They will also need to update the Notice of Privacy Practices they provide to patients to outline their new policies.

As is always the case when a new Federal rule goes into effect, affected individuals and entities are likely to have questions about how to follow the rule and how to notify patients, staff, business associates and other stakeholders about updated policies and practices. This is of course an area in which legal counsel should be obtained, so that covered entities and business associates can achieve full compliance with their expanded obligations.

Sector45 will be working closely with all affected clients on updated policies and practices in the coming months, and will of course fully comply with its obligations under the rule as a business associate of our clients. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or concerns.

If I asked where your business spends most of its social media time and efforts, I bet you would say on Facebook. Would you be surprised to hear it’s not the best place for your time and money? Metrics show over and over that no social media tactic can match the long term payoff of blogging. If you don’t have a blog, you need one. If you do, you should be doing more with it, and here’s why.

1)      SEO Benefits – If your blog is integrated into your web site (and it should be) then every blog post has the potential to help your search optimization because you keyword optimize your posts and that content will be picked up by the search engines. If your blog is not attached to your site, then there is an opportunity to have inbound links to your site. But note that inbound linking from blogs is less important than it used to be. Facebook doesn’t contribute to your search rankings like this.

2)      Blogging Is Long Term – Updates on Facebook, Twitter, etc, are here today and gone tomorrow. Blog articles are forever and can continue to be found in search results for months or even years.

3)      A Content Hub – Blogging establishes you as an expert and can be the center of thought leadership for your business and industry. Other social entities really only help you distribute or promote content. Tip: After you write your blog post, use the other social outlets to promote it and get people back to your blog.

4)      Added Value – Fans on sites like Facebook will only follow you if they think you have something to offer. Your blog can give more value via helpful tips, advice and how-to’s. In addition it can link them to other blog posts of interest.

5)      Wider Audience – Blogging can be seen via RSS, email, site visitors and all social networks you post to. On Facebook and other social sites, you are only reaching the people who have chosen to follow you.

6)      More Clicks – Compelling links on your blog are more likely to be clicked than on social sites, where viewers are being inundated with posts from others. On your blog, it’s a relevant topic linking out to another relevant topic so there is more interest and likelihood to click and follow.

7)      Control – This is perhaps the most important aspect of blogging. When you post on your blog, you have complete control. Your visitors are seeing what you want them to see. Facebook decides who sees your updates and you have no control over that.

No social tactic will have the measurable ROI that blogging can have and your social media campaign should be adjusted accordingly. Make sure that if you aren’t blogging for yourself, your Search Marketing Team is doing this for you each month.

I have two Facebook accounts. One for work and one for my personal life. My personal account is completely locked down and up until recently I have used it to be very “colorful” (people that are in my inner circle are laughing right now) about my views, opinions, etc on things. While I still find my work Facebook account useful for news and contacts, I don’t really care much about the personal account anymore and I haven’t posted there since the beginning of the year. Have I finally grown out of Facebook?

Why Post on Facebook?

I spent some time thinking about why I log in and what purpose it served. I couldn’t come up with anything to justify why I did it other than a bit of a time waster or to try to be funny for a group of “friends” that really were just a collection of random people I have known through my life. At the end of the day, I don’t really care what they think of me and I surely don’t care about the latest picture of their meal, their dog, or their kids playing soccer, so what’s the point?

Interaction Declining

According to Pew Research Center, 67% of American adults are Facebook users. This obviously dominates any other social media outlet. What’s surprising is for the first time we are starting to see people taking breaks from Facebook.

The report states that 61% of current Facebook users at one time or another have taken a break from Facebook for several weeks or more. 20% of online adults that don’t use Facebook say they once did but have stopped.  Of the people on a “Facebook Vacation,” their reasons ranged anywhere from being too busy for it, a general lack of interest in Facebook itself, lack of compelling content, privacy concerns, and excessive gossip and drama from their friends on the site.

Has the Bubble Burst?

Is this the beginning of a decline in Facebook attendance? You can bet Facebook is concerned about this report as they want all eyes on their site at all times. But the message that seems to be coming across is that people don’t think Facebook is as important as they did a year ago.

For me this reaffirms what we have been telling our clients about Facebook and other social outlets. Keep them in check. Don’t put all your eggs into the Facebook basket.  There is absolutely no reason to be investing heavily here and your social media ROI is far better served in blogging.